Latest from GIFC

Saturday, 13 December 2014

A business leader from the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao called for the creation of an Islamic banking department as one of the provisions of the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL).

Speaking at the House public hearing Thursday at the Anda-Rizal convention center, ARMM business council chair Mitchell Manalocon said the agency should be created to adhere to Shariah laws on banking.

Manalocon said existing Amanah banks being run by cooperatives could help create a model that the proposed body could adopt as its own structure.

He added that the private sector should be encouraged to be more involved in crafting the banking policies of the proposed region.

He said the government that would lead the Bangsamoro should also build enough infrastructure to support halal certification across all parts of the food processing, from feeding the livestock in the case of meat to sending the food to the consumer.

Halal certification should be pushed across all levels of the supply chain, he said.

According to the House version of the draft BBL or HB 4994, within six months of the creation of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority, the Bangsamoro government would have to decide how to structure the ownership of Islamic bank Al-Amanah Islamic Investment Bank of the Philippines.

Section 30 of the bill states that the Bangsamoro government would determine its involvement in the ownership and management of the bank, as well as that of the Southern Philippines Development Authority.

The entity would also determine the mode of transfer of ownership.

These will be done through the Intergovernmental Fiscal Policy Board, a group composed of national and local government leaders and other sectors that determines the fiscal policies of the proposed Bangsamoro.